Sooji or Rava or semolina is used to make this breakfast dish. Semolina is a refined food made from whole wheat grain. It is popularly called Upma or rava upma or sooji upma. It can be made in many different ways. You can use urad dal, chana dal, peanuts, cashews, green chili, dried red chili, onions, any veggies you like, and any combination you want.
Ingredients:
- 3 cups Semolina or sooji
- 1 ½ tsp oil or ghee
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- ¼ tsp Hing (optional)
- 1 cup chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 5-6 curry leaves
- 3-4 dried red chili
- 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
- Pinch of sugar (optional)
- 2 cups cut veggies
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Take a pot, add semolina, 1 tsp oil. Mix it and roast it on medium flame until semolina changes the color
- Transfer it to a bowl. Unroasted semolina makes upma sticky.
- In the same pot, add oil or ghee and heat it
- Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let them crackle
- Add hing, curry leaves, dried red chili and fry them
- Add onion pieces and ginger paste. Fry it until the onion becomes transparent
- Add veggies (carrots, beans, green peas etc) and add some salt to it. Cook them until they become soft
Add double the water (for 1 cup sooji, add 2 cups of water). If sooji is coarse or you like upma to be mushy, you can add more water.- Add cilantro and salt to it and let the water boil.
- To the boiling water, add lemon juice, sugar (if you want), and roasted semolina and stir vigorously to avoid/break the lumps.
- Turn the flame to low and cover the pot.
- Allow the mixture to cook well. Semolina absorbs water. Some people add additional ghee at this point, but it is optional.
- Turn off the flame and serve hot with Indian pickle, plain yogurt and/or coconut chutney.
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